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Jailblazers7 wrote:Didn’t realize that division winner is the ultimate tie breaker. Would be pretty lame if we’re 3-0 against them head-to-head but we still lose the tie break.

FlyingArrow wrote:Yep - that looks right. If the Sixers win these last two games, they get out of the play-in unless it's a 3-way tie. If they lose to the Magic, the Sixers are in the play-in. If they beat the Magic but lose to the Nets, they can still end up with a 6 seed, but it would require several other games to all fall the right way.

Looking at all this - the Pacers are almost safe from the play-in. I only see one scenario where they don't make it, but if they do fall to the play-in, they fall all the way to the 8 seed. For that to happen all 7 of the remaining relevant games would have to go exactly the wrong way for the Pacers.

Sixers 2-0:
If Cavs not 0-2:
If Pacers 2-0, then Sixers are 6 seed. (Possibly tied with Magic, but Sixers win tiebreaker.)
If Pacers 0-2, then Sixers are 5 seed. (Possibly tied with Magic, but Sixers win tiebreaker.)
If Pacers 1-1 and Magic 0-2, then Sixers are 6 seed. (Tied with Pacers and lose tiebreaker.)
If Pacers 1-1 and Magic 1-1, then Sixers are 7 seed. (3-way tie with Pacers and Magic. Magic win the tie because they are division winners, and then Sixers lose to Pacers head-to-head.)

If Cavs are 0-2, they are also tied with Sixers:
If Pacers 2-0 and Magic 0-2, then Sixers are 5 seed. (Sixers win tiebreaker over Cavs.)
If Pacers 2-0 and Magic 1-1, then Sixers are 6 seed. (Magic win 3-way tie as division winners. Sixers win tiebreaker over Cavs based on conference record.)
If Pacers 1-1 and Magic 0-2, then Sixers are 5 seed. (3-way tie with Pacers and Cavs***. Pacers win the 3-way tie to take the 4 seed. Sixers beat Cavs based on conference record to take the 5 seed.)
If Pacers 1-1 and Magic 1-1, then Sixers are 6 seed. (4-way tie with the Pacers, Magic, and Cavs. Magic win 4-way tie for 4 seed because they are division winners. 3-way tie with Pacers and Cavs resolves as above. Pacers, then Sixers, then Cavs.)

Sixers 1-1 (beat Magic, lose to Nets):
If Magic 1-1, then Sixers are 7/8 seed.
If Magic 0-2, Pacers 1-1 or better, and either Heat 0-2 or Heat 1-1, then Sixers are 6 seed. (Tied with Magic and win tiebreaker.)
If Magic 0-2, Pacers 0-2, and either Heat 0-2 or Heat 1-1, then Sixers are 7 seed. (Same tie as above, where it's first Magic, then Pacers, then Sixers.)
If Magic 0-2 Heat 2-0, and Pacers not 0-2, then it's a 3-way tie with the Magic and the Heat.* Pacers aren't in the tie and are the 5 seed. Heat get 6 seed, Sixers get 7 seed, Magic get 8 seed.
If Magic 0-2, Heat 2-0, and Pacers 0-2, then it's a 4-way tie with Pacers/Sixers/Heat/Magic.** Heat are 5 seed, Sixers are 6 seed, Magic are 7 seed, Pacers are 8 seed.

Sixers 1-1 (lose to Magic): Sixers are 7/8 seed (can't beat Magic or Pacers)

Sixers 0-2: Sixers are 7/8 seed (can't beat Magic or Pacers)

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* 3-way tiebreaker with Heat and Magic. Division leaders go first. Heat and Magic tie for division lead, and Heat win the tiebreaker to win the division. Then Sixers win the tiebreaker versus the Magic.
Heat 2-1 vs Sixers, 3-1 vs Magic. 5-2 overall.
Sixers 3-0 vs Magic, 1-2 vs Heat. 4-2 overall.
Magic 0-3 vs Sixers, 1-3 vs Heat. 1-6 overall.

** 4-way tiebreaker with Pacers, Heat and Magic. Division leaders go first. Heat and Magic tie for division lead, and Heat win the tiebreaker to win the division and the 5 seed. Now that the Magic aren't division winners, Sixers win the 3-way tie among the Magic, Pacers, and Sixers. (Note that they lose this exact same tie is the scenario above where the Magic are the division winners.) Then Magic beat the Pacers in the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Heat 2-1 vs Sixers, 3-1 vs Magic, 1-2 vs Pacers.
Sixers 3-0 vs Magic, 1-2 vs Heat, 1-2 vs Pacers.
Magic 0-3 vs Sixers, 1-3 vs Heat, 2-1 vs Pacers.
Pacers 2-1 vs Sixers, 1-2 vs Magic, 2-1 vs Heat.

Sixers 3-0 vs Magic, 1-2 vs Pacers. 4-2 overall.
Magic 0-3 vs Sixers, 2-1 vs Pacers. 2-4 overall.
Pacers 2-1 vs Sixers, 1-2 vs Magic. 3-3 overall.

*** 3-way tiebreaker with Pacers and Cavs. No division leader.
Sixers 1-2 vs Pacers, 2-2 vs Cavs. 3-4 overall.
Pacers 2-1 vs Sixers, 3-1 vs Cavs. 5-2 overall.
Cavs 2-2 vs Sixers, 1-3 vs Pacers. 3-5 overall.

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EDIT: If the Cavaliers go 0-2, they could also end up in a tie with the Sixers. That's another way the Sixers could end up in a 3-way tie that they lose. I hadn't included those possibilities. In a 2-way tie, the Sixers would beat the Cavs. H-2-H, it was 2-2. Neither is a division winner, and they are not in the same division, so it goes to conference record. Cavs currently have a better conference record, but if we end up tied it's because Sixers go 2-0 while Cavs go 0-2, at which point the Sixers would win the tiebreaker.

Arsenal wrote:Knicks killing Saltics. If they win out and Bucks lose out, Knicks are #2 and Bucks #3.

Prefer that so if we get #6 we get Bucks. Much easier matchup.

kuclas wrote:

Arsenal wrote:Knicks killing Saltics. If they win out and Bucks lose out, Knicks are #2 and Bucks #3.

Prefer that so if we get #6 we get Bucks. Much easier matchup.

There is a lot of not so silent throwing of nba games. I suspect Celtics (not that it matters) since they are
The best team overall.

I suspect by letting knicks win. Celtics know they will force the bucks to actually try to win Sunday. Maybe. Who knows. But forcing Orlando to the play in and potential 8 seed is better overall first round for Celtics than a potential Miami heat or sixers first round matchup.

Arsenal wrote:Saltics and Knicks are clearly the best teams in the East. Want to avoid both as long as possible. Pretty sure we beat any other teams, including the Bucks.

kuclas wrote:

Arsenal wrote:Knicks killing Saltics. If they win out and Bucks lose out, Knicks are #2 and Bucks #3.

Prefer that so if we get #6 we get Bucks. Much easier matchup.

There is a lot of not so silent throwing of nba games. I suspect Celtics (not that it matters) since they are
The best team overall.

I suspect by letting knicks win. Celtics know they will force the bucks to actually try to win Sunday. Maybe. Who knows. But forcing Orlando to the play in and potential 8 seed is better overall first round for Celtics than a potential Miami heat or sixers first round matchup.

Jhawk03 wrote:

kuclas wrote:

Arsenal wrote:Knicks killing Saltics. If they win out and Bucks lose out, Knicks are #2 and Bucks #3.

Prefer that so if we get #6 we get Bucks. Much easier matchup.

There is a lot of not so silent throwing of nba games. I suspect Celtics (not that it matters) since they are
The best team overall.

I suspect by letting knicks win. Celtics know they will force the bucks to actually try to win Sunday. Maybe. Who knows. But forcing Orlando to the play in and potential 8 seed is better overall first round for Celtics than a potential Miami heat or sixers first round matchup.

I could point you towards the rabbit hole...

eyeatoma wrote:

Jhawk03 wrote:

kuclas wrote:
There is a lot of not so silent throwing of nba games. I suspect Celtics (not that it matters) since they are
The best team overall.

I suspect by letting knicks win. Celtics know they will force the bucks to actually try to win Sunday. Maybe. Who knows. But forcing Orlando to the play in and potential 8 seed is better overall first round for Celtics than a potential Miami heat or sixers first round matchup.

I could point you towards the rabbit hole...

At this point I think you have a fetish for rabbit's holes...

Jhawk03 wrote:

eyeatoma wrote:

Jhawk03 wrote:
I could point you towards the rabbit hole...

At this point I think you have a fetish for rabbit's holes...

I mean, I do like holes, but that's another conversation

Arsenal wrote:Knicks killing Saltics. If they win out and Bucks lose out, Knicks are #2 and Bucks #3.

Prefer that so if we get #6 we get Bucks. Much easier matchup.